Merchant League
The Merchant League is a loosely defined conglomeration of businessmen & traders who act as middle-men for planetary and interplanetary commerce, buying from sources, arranging the transportation of goods and selling them on for a profit. If you have something you want to buy or sell these are the people you have to contact. The Merchant League is also the most prominent patron of new projects across the Sector, if you want to find investment for your idea they can help you - so long as there's something in it for them. The Merchant League has close ties with the Chartist Captains, who they hire to transport the goods they buy & sell. The Merchant League itself is made of countless different merchants, traders, corporations and consortiums each vying for the most lucrative trades to maximise their profits. Split across space, the vast majority of the Merchant League is highly disparate and only concerned with smaller scale local trading and other basic economic ventures. Some may be individual merchantmen that put their personal wealth on the line buying & selling between regions upon one planet. Others may be vast trading houses with thousands of employees that buy & sell across entire Subsectors. Naturally only the largest & most powerful of these Merchant entities in a given region of space can act as a proper faction amongst the powerful Adeptuses of the Imperium. When unified, the most powerful Merchant entities can control the economic fate of entire planets. Merchant League in Sector Deus The Chairmen of the most powerful Merchant entities in Sector Deus sit on the Merchant Council, which meets regularly to discuss the Sector's economy. These entities - when unified in action - are capable of influencing the economic fortunes of billions across the Sector. The most direct place to find members of the Merchant League is the Grand Economica on Tachion Primaris, or the Central Merchant Exchange on Templos. These two facilities house massive trading floors and negotiation rooms where any entity in the Imperium can trade with another. The Sector Deus Merchant League also extends its influence over the neighbouring Sectors Corgus & Paxia. 'The Mercantile Industry' There are a large number of different things that are bought & sold by the Mercantile consortiums including corporate shares, private debt bonds, and planetary government bonds. However the most traded products by far are commodities and trade contracts. A commodity 'is just that, a quantity of a real physical item. This could be anything from grain to gold, from sandstone to cybernetics, or even a starship (which would be a very specific, low-quantity commodity). They may be sold by the producer of the commodity, or purchased by an end user of the commodity, but the vast majority of commodity trades are performed between merchants who are essentially gambling on how they think the market will change so they can turn a profit, albeit gambling based on large amounts of cogitator data & experience. 'Trade Contracts The other main product are trade contracts. The majority of most Merchant Consortiums' business revolves around issuing trade contracts, as the most reliable and dependable profits can be made simply from buying from a planet with surplus and immediately selling to a planet with demand. However once the product has been bought and sold for a profit, it must actually be transported from the poroducer to the customer. To achieve this the Merchant Consortium will issue a trade contract to the Captain of a transport ship that has the requisite cargo space. While the lion's share of the vast holds of the Chartist Captains is usually taken up by goods of the Imperial Tithe, it is the little remaining free space that is the interest of the Merchant League. At its basest, a trade contract is an agreement to ferry a quantity of goods from one location to another with an associated payment to the holder of the contract once said contract has been fulfilled. In reality however most trade contracts are more complex, often offering repeated payments for repeated transportation and a whole host of clauses regarding the contract period, the goods ferried, and the convoy travelled within, all of which influence the payment for the chartist. Generally merchant consortium's prefer to use chartists they already know and trust, but newer, less experienced chartists often accept much lower payments to fulfil the same trade contract. Therefore in general the less lucrative trade contracts (such as a shipment of coal between two nearby planets) are performed by poorer, less experienced chartists who receive little payment. While high value trade contracts (such as a mass shipment of adamantium across the entire sector) would be performed by experienced, well-equipped chartists who are rewarded handsomely for making delivery on schedule. Some merchants have made unimaginable fortunes by issuing high-value contracts to cheap, inexperienced and poorly equipped chartists. But many of those would go on to lose every penny and more when a shipment arrives late and/or damaged or worse - never arrives at all. Such occurances represent a breach of contract between the merchant and the end customer, and often incur massive financial penalties in addition to the lost commodities. The grade of Trade Charter posessed by the Chartist Captain also has an extreme influence over how much they would be paid by a Merchant for fulfilling a Trade Contract. Fleet Chartered Captains must traverse fixed routes with minimal free cargo space, greatly reducing their potential payment for transporting goods for Merchants. Meanwhile Free Chartered or Civil Fleet Captains can travel where they please and have much more free cargo space, ensuring far more lucrative Trade Contracts. 'Notable Merchant Lords in Sector Deus' *'Lord Barnabus Brumm' - Enormously overweight Merchant Lord with a lust for rare delicacies. Has a large stake in the Sector's agri-industry and sits on the Merchant Council. In addition to dealing in the trade of non-tithed agri products, Brumm also owns (either outright on partially) large land holdings across the Sector - usually of an agricultural nature. Due to the importance of his industry Brumm carries a lot of political sway, though is loathe to involve himself in such potentially explosive situations by wielding it. Centred on Templos. *'Lady Angelis Blomkvist' - One of the wealthiest Merchants in the Sector, Lady Blomkvist's consortium dominates Malta's civilian ferrocrete & plasteel imports which for obvious reasons are massive. She also has stakes in a large number of munitions factories and other military-grade production facilities across the Sector. Sits on the Merchant Council and spends most of her time on Templos. *'Lord Kallum Urney' - Chairman of a powerful consortium that facilitates most of the Platian private export shipping. He is a strong, stern man who underwent practical mining experience in his youth on the orders of his father. Sits on the Merchant Council and spends most of his time on Templos. *'Lord Remmy Farkal' - Young chairman of a small trade consortium. Currently trying to access emerging markets so he can one day earn a place on the Merchant Council. Can usually be found on either Templos or Nymeria, managing various small enterprises at once. *'Lady-Captain Hannah Tyne' - A Rogue Trader who owns her own substantial trading consortium. Her consortium has a fairly small turnover by Merchant League standards, but the fact that she owns many of the transport ships she uses for shipping gives her much higher profit margins, and she likely possesses more assets than most Merchant Lords. She personally commands the Galaxy-glass Heavy Transport Just Business, and of her personal transport fleet the most significant vessel is the Universe-class Mass Conveyor Voyager Astra. *'Lord Ciryll Formaggia' - Chairman of a young consortium that owns a portion of Peletonium's market exports. Known for his keen intellect and knack for political manoeuvring, Formaggia has secured many new contracts from Peletonium through favours from the government in return for vague 'services rendered'. Whether these are bribes, smart negotiations, or something worse is not known. Spends most of his time on Nymeria & Peletonium. *'Lord Aldemus Silverstone' - Chairman of a purely financial trade consotrium. The Silverstone consortium does not have any transport ships nor do they employ any Chartist Captains, rather they buy & sell contracts between suppliers, consumers and other consortiums for their own profit. The Silverstone consortium has enormous sums of raw wealth tied up innumerable contracts their traders are constantly buying and selling, keeping close eyes on market fluctuations they can turn to their advantage. They are also a sizeable investor in planet-bound ventures, possessing varying stakes in a large number of planetary corporations. Spends all his time on Templos. *'Lady Ariana Belinde' - Chairwoman of a now-small trade consortium that once dominated Triot's exports. Triot fell before she was born and her father - the former Chairman and a native Triotian - escaped with his family. Since the fall of Triot the consortium has limped on with small contracts from Doria IV and Giniaria, but is a hollow shell of its former wealth. Spends most of her time on Doria IV or Gradburg. *'Lord Shaemus Oiferty' - Once a mere Chartist Captain of a simple Vagabond-class Transport, Oiferty played his cards well and managed to build up a small trade fleet of his own. Then he made the daring move from transportation to finance, creating a consortium and acquiring contracts straight from the suppliers rather than through the Merchant League. Now the chairman of a small but growing consortium based in Subsector Adamantis, Oiferty spends most of his time on Annulus.